Number Nine stepped aside, revealing a petri dish filled with a deep red liquid behind her.
A damaged body floated in the liquid, its skin an unnatural grayish-white, with numerous blood vessels, like vines, crawling all over the tank from its severed limbs.
"All of us originate from the Mother!"
Number Nine's voice was flat, her gaze sweeping towards the damaged body in the petri dish.
"The moment the plan went out of control, she, as the core, had her maternal instincts activated. To protect Shinji Ikari, her residual consciousness activated the cloning factory deep within the SEELE base."
She paused, then continued to explain.
"Each of us is an extension of her consciousness. Every new individual born inherits fragments of her memory and her will to protect."
As soon as she finished speaking, more Rei Ayanamis emerged from the darkness, densely surrounding them, their red eyes all fixed on Li Yu. The scene was eerie and carried an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Li Yu glanced around. He had never imagined that one day he would be stared at by so many beautiful girls at once, but this scene truly failed to evoke any pleasure.
In the petri dish, the damaged body suddenly opened its eyes, its hollow red gaze fixed directly on Li Yu.
The next second, the entire underground base echoed with a chorus of chanting, as if countless voices were layered together, reverberating through the space.
"As long as Shinji Ikari awakens, his Unit-01 can defeat the revived Adam and stop the Human Instrumentality Project!"
"The entire meaning of our existence is to keep Shinji alive, until he is willing to awaken, or... until we are all exhausted!"
Clap clap clap!
Li Yu raised his hands and clapped, the crisp sound particularly jarring amidst the chanting.
He looked at Number Nine, a cold smirk playing on his lips.
"Rei Ayanami, or rather, Lilith, your acting is quite good. I almost fell for it!"
For the first time, a look of confusion appeared on Number Nine's face, her red eyes narrowing slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Li Yu's gaze shifted to the damaged body in the petri dish, his tone completely unruffled.
"The story is well-crafted, but there are a few flaws."
Number Nine's pupils constricted. She remained silent, quietly awaiting Li Yu's explanation.
"First, how can you, with human bodies, resist the erosion of Adam's cells? It's one thing for you, but why is the floor of this base so clean?"
"Second, Rei Ayanami's body contains Lilith's genes. As the Second Angel, you certainly wouldn't be content to simply die off silently like this. You've said so much, but you've never mentioned Lilith's whereabouts."
"Third, you might not know it yourself, but in my eyes, all of you possess a divine radiance."
"Also, do you know that the names of the other Rei Ayanamis are red in my eyes! She is called Zhang Beichen... She is called Luo Jiayu... In fact, they are all Reincarnators, aren't they?!"
As a Hunter, Li Yu possessed extremely high authority, allowing him to easily discern the truth.
The astonishment on Number Nine's face slowly receded, her gaze becoming increasingly cold. Her red eyes held a world-weary vicissitudes of life look, instantly shedding the stiffness of an artificial human.
"You are indeed different from the other Reincarnators!"
She spoke slowly.
"Let me guess, are you the Hunter they speak of? Sensing the anomaly in this world, you came to hunt down the Fallen Reincarnators?"
Before she finished speaking, Number Nine's body suddenly floated into the air, a rhomboid blue AT Field appearing around her, with fine electric sparks flickering at its edges.
Li Yu sneered. Was she no longer bothering to conceal her Angel identity, not even pretending anymore?
Li Yu's lips curved slightly.
"Before you act, I advise you to think carefully. The gap between Reincarnators and Hunters is like heaven and earth!"
"If you still want him to live, you'd best tell me everything I want to know!"
Li Yu's gaze flickered towards Shinji Ikari in the life support capsule, and a circle of white light suddenly appeared beneath his feet.
The next second, a thick layer of frost instantly condensed on the surface of tens of thousands of cultivation capsules. The hard tempered glass was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, emitting crisp cracking sounds, on the verge of shattering completely.
The Rei Ayanami clones inside the capsules were frozen in the pale orange LCL solution, their expressions still calm, but now with an added fragility.
"Please stop!"
Number Nine's expression finally wavered, and her AT Field flickered violently.
She slowly descended from the air, kneeling on one knee before Li Yu, her head bowed, blue hair falling to obscure her expression.
"Please do not harm Shinji Ikari. He is the last human on this entire planet. If he dies, this world will return to chaos, and everything will truly end!"
Li Yu retracted the Absolute Zero halo from beneath his feet, and the spread of the frost instantly halted.
He looked at Number Nine, who was kneeling before him, his tone flat.
"First question, why did these Reincarnators turn into your likeness?"
The bodies of the surrounding Rei Ayanami clones began to change. Their light blue short hair grew longer or shorter, their fair skin developed wrinkles or became youthful. In an instant, they transformed into men and women, old and young, revealing their original appearances.
Number Nine answered truthfully.
"Some were killed by Angels, some were absorbed by me. I wanted to absorb their bodies and memories, and with their physical forms, transcend to become Reincarnators..."
She paused, then looked up, a crimson flash in her red eyes.
"The moment I saw you, I had a premonition that if I could absorb you, I would definitely be able to transcend this world, this world that is about to be completely occupied by Adam, or rather, Gendo Ikari!"
Li Yu nodded slightly, not commenting on her ignorance, and continued to ask.
"Second question, where is Adam now?"
"He should be on the moon at this moment."
Number Nine lowered her head.
"The surface is an LCL sea formed from the remnants of humans after failed fusion, and the sky is filled with out-of-control, rampaging Angels. The moon, on the other hand, is Gendo Ikari's New Eden."
"New Eden? What is that?"
"We were born from the Tree of Life. Adam and I each seized the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Wisdom from the Tree of Life. Only when the powers of the two fruits are combined can an existence surpassing Angels be created."
Number Nine explained.
"Gendo Ikari absorbed the Adam embryo, so he himself is the Fruit of Life. Subsequently, he obtained the genes of all humanity, as well as half of my body. Now he is replanting the Tree of Life on the moon, waiting for the day the divine tree bears fruit, which will be the day he becomes a god!"
Her tone carried a trace of subtle relief.
"Fortunately, as long as Shinji Ikari is alive, he cannot succeed. Shinji possesses the last portion of the Fruit of Wisdom... But that day is not far off."
"Shinji Ikari refuses to awaken, and his life state cannot be maintained for much longer, which is why I want to escape this world. Adam's power is too great; there's no possibility of defeating him!"
Li Yu chuckled, dismissive in his heart.
Just an Angel, that's all. You think he's strong only because you haven't seen a true god.
The power level of the EVA world was indeed not low, but in his eyes, it was still insufficient.
If it weren't for wanting to gain the recognition of the world's consciousness, he could directly destroy the entire planet and reset everything.
"Third question, where is the spear of longinus?"
Li Yu asked the question he cared about most. If it weren't for finding this god-slaying spear, this world would have been completely frozen by him long ago.
An Angel that doesn't move is a good Angel.
Number Nine looked up, her red eyes flickering slightly, as if weighing something.
After a moment, she answered truthfully.
"The spear of longinus is the withered Tree of Life. Gendo Ikari wants to revive the divine tree, and the spear of longinus is indispensable. He took the spear after the Human Instrumentality Project, and if nothing unexpected, this spear should also be on the moon!"
Li Yu understood. No wonder all Angels became motionless after being impaled by the spear of longinus; it turned out that the spear was the Tree of Life from which their progenitor was born!
Just then, the Rei Ayanami who had brought Li Yu to this base rushed in, her voice flat.
"Adam is here..."
The ground above the base trembled violently!
Boom!
Two massive arms pierced through the ground, slowly tearing the base open. A giant of light, with only one eyeball and radiating light all over its body, appeared before Li Yu.
He surveyed his surroundings, his gaze settling on the boy in the petri dish. A deep voice entered everyone's ears.
"Shinji Ikari, my son, so you are here!"